Straightforward technical solutions for complex human problems.
2022 was “business as usual” – offering solutions to the planet’s most pressing challenges, delivering an ambitious ten-year strategy, and bringing every one of our members on that journey.
Find out how we achieved that as we look at the highlights of a year that focused on collaboration, community and climate action.
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To meet people’s needs, we have to keep one step ahead ourselves.
Joint message from the ISO President and Secretary‑General
Continuity, collaboration and community
2022 tested the resilience and relevance of many organizations, and ISO was no exception.
However, we emerged from the challenges stronger and more determined than ever before. These difficult times not only underscored the effectiveness of our strategic approach, but also highlighted the essential role ISO plays in empowering and inspiring others through International Standards.
In a year marred by conflict and global upheaval in the wake of a multiyear pandemic, we continued evolving, building on the foundation of the ISO Strategy 2030. Against a backdrop of uncertainty and energy insecurity, we remained focused on dialogue, collaboration and enabling the green transition.
As the world’s leading standards organization, we recognize that keeping up with rapid change in an uncertain world presents multiple challenges. To lead with credibility and remain a catalyst for innovation and growth, we continuously strive to stay ahead of the curve. We identified the megatrends that will impact standards and highlighted specific challenges that will require International Standards in our landmark Foresight report.
In this overview of our journey through 2022, you can discover the concrete ways in which we’re meeting the future with ground-breaking initiatives that include the ISO SMART project to revolutionize the way that standards are accessed and used, streamlined digital collaboration and Net Zero Guidelines that enable measurable progress in tackling climate change.
Our success is the direct result of the hard work and dedication of the women and men who make up the ISO system. Through our 168 members, and the tens of thousands of technical experts who dedicate themselves to ISO standards, we are helping others to solve real-world problems and accelerating progress on the priorities of the 2030 Global Agenda.
We are proud to state that our Gender Action Plan is a fundamental component of our strategy, and we are actively working towards a more inclusive, balanced and representative organization. In 2022, we prioritized our commitment to greater female participation in standards and explored ways to ensure that standards themselves better reflect the needs of women. Our focus on this issue is unwavering, and we are determined to continue to foster a more equitable future.
Having embedded safe and flexible working practices across our organization, we explored new opportunities to widen the scope and scale of our work, taking our message to more diverse audiences through a hybrid digital and in-person event hosted in partnership with the ISO member for the UAE. Recognizing that solutions to today’s biggest challenges require us to think creatively, boldly and collaboratively, the re-imagined ISO Annual Meeting opened its doors to the public and we attracted a greater number of participants than ever before.
We also put standards firmly on the agenda at international events like the G20, and the UN COP27 where, for the first time, we participated at an institutional level and put standards on the frontline of climate action. The role of International Standards in solving global problems is now more widely recognized, but with many crises presenting themselves simultaneously, we will continue to engage with urgency. Big challenges remain around decarbonization of industries, energy transition and embedding sustainable practices across all aspects of daily life in ways that bring measurable improvements. ISO remains fully committed to its sustainability mission, helping others to achieve their objectives and creating a brighter future for people and planet.
We’re excited about spreading that message, together with Standards Australia, at the 2023 ISO Annual Meeting in Brisbane. Whether you’re from the ISO community or an international organization, a policymaker or academic, or part of the private sector, sign up and join us in a forward-looking dialogue around the power and potential of International Standards.
We’re proud of what we achieved in 2022. Join us as we review the ways we kept our Strategy on track and brought standards solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.
ISO in figures
We continued to grow as an organization, welcoming new members and employees. These are just some of the numbers that tell our story. You can also get further insights or download detailed info.
ISO members
new standards
International Standards and related documents
new employees at our Central Secretariat in Geneva
Highlights
Discover some of the main ways that we evolved our organization and put standards on the frontline of global challenges.
January
Ulrika Francke began her term as ISO President.
In her welcome message, she shares her perspectives on the growing importance of ISO and International Standards in the current global context, and the focus of her tenure for the coming two years.
February
World Standards Cooperation (WSC) meeting with colleagues and counterparts from IEC, ITU and ISO.
In a keynote address, Nigel Topping, the UK’s High-Level Champion for Climate Action at COP26, spoke about how standards can be used to increase the creditability and commitments to reach net zero and aid in the scepticism of greenwashing.
March
The newly approved IEC/ISO SMART collaboration framework kicked off.
Standards developed today by the IEC and ISO are focused on humans as primary users. While these standards can be read by computers, they cannot be interpreted and therefore comprehensively processed by machines.
The next generation of IEC and ISO standards will provide tailored and up-to-date content at the right time to the relevant users – whether they are humans, computers, complex machines, or small intelligent devices. IEC and ISO standards will be embedded into product development supply chains and become much more integrated into everyone’s daily life.
What is SMART?
One of our key areas of work, this joint programme by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and ISO will drive the digital evolution of International Standards to address the needs of citizens, societies and economies. Find out more about how SMART is unleashing the digital power of International Standards.
April
The ISO Capacity Building team completed the Digital Accessibility Survey 2022-2025 as part of their commitment to remove barriers to participation in standards.
ISO confirmed its partnership with the SI System, the International System of Units used by engineers, scientists and anybody looking for a standardized way of expressing quantities.
We brought the power of standards to the G7 meeting in Germany: “Strengthening G7 Coordination on Supporting International Standardization for the Digital and Green Transformations”.
The ISO Foresight Trend Report is published. This landmark publication looks systematically at the long-term and to encourage discussion and exchange within the ISO system about future opportunities for international standardization.
May
OSD in brief
With online standards development, we are creating an online environment for standards developers in which they can work efficiently and collaboratively. The OSD platform helps lay the foundation for new value-added products and offers standards developers a cloud-based solution for working with multiple contributors across different locations.
September
The ISO Annual Meeting takes place in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
We opened our Annual Meeting to experts, contributors, politicians, journalists, activists, entrepreneurs and standardizers from around the world, resulting in our most widely attended event to date.
The hybrid format enabled participation from around the world and allowed people to listen to world-class speakers at a time that works for them.
October
“Recover together, recover stronger with International Standards” – the message delivered to the G20 Indonesia at the International Standards Summit 2022.
The ISO community, together with our partners the IEC and ITU, celebrated World Standards Day.
The ISO Research Grant is awarded to a team at Delft University of Technology who will identify opportunities for global climate adaptation standards to help coastal communities that are threatened by rising waters.
November
ISO engages world change makers to showcase how International Standards help transform climate commitments into action at COP27, the United Nations climate meeting in Egypt.
ISO publishes the world’s first Net Zero Guidelines.
This game-changing document establishes, for the first time, a shared understanding of what the term “net zero” means, and creates a framework for states, organizations and companies to take concrete steps towards defined, common goals.
December
For the first time, ISO takes part in the United Nations conference on biodiversity, COP15, in Montreal, where standards are highlighted as solutions for the recovery of natural ecosystems.
Finances
Here are the main figures, with the previous year given for reference.
Financial performance (kCHF)
| Operating revenue | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Membership fees | 21 076 | 21 472 |
| Royalties received from members selling ISO standards | 13 595 | 13 041 |
| Total revenue from members | 34 671 | 34 513 |
| Revenue – net sales | 6 814 | 7 066 |
| Funded activities | ||
| Funding to capacity building projects | 1 449 | 678 |
| Funding to ISO strategic projects | 454 | 177 |
| Total funding | 1 903 | 855 |
| Total revenue | 43 388 | 42 434 |
| Operating expenditure | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Operations | 39 086 | 36 093 |
| Funded activities | ||
| Capacity building | 1 449 | 678 |
| ISO strategy implementation | 454 | 177 |
| Total funded activities expenditure | 1 903 | 855 |
| Total expenditure | 40 989 | 36 948 |
| Operating result | 2 399 | 5 486 |
| Financial gain/-loss | -2 740 | 641 |
| Net result before allocation to/dissolution of funds | -341 | 6 127 |
Balance sheets as of 31 December (kCHF)
Assets
| Current | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents | 22 355 | 22 534 |
| Receivables, prepaid expenses and accrued income | 4 100 | 3 844 |
| Total | 26 455 | 26 378 |
| Non-current | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Securities and investments | 16 433 | 18 454 |
| Rent guarantee for ISO Central Secretariat premises | 2 168 | 2 168 |
| Fixed assets | 265 | 90 |
| Total | 18 866 | 20 712 |
→ 2022 total assets: 45 321 kCHF
Liabilities
| Current | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Suppliers and accrued liabilities | 3 632 | 3 479 |
| Members’ retrocessions | 5 280 | 4 818 |
| Revenue received in advance | 2 262 | 1 497 |
| Total | 11 174 | 9 794 |
| Funds | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Restricted funds | 11 886 | 9 074 |
| Unrestricted funds | 22 602 | 22 095 |
| Net result before allocation to/dissolution of funds | -341 | 6 127 |
| Total | 34 147 | 37 296 |
→ 2022 total liabilities: 45 321 kCHF
Summary of cash flow statements (kCHF)
| Net cash | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Net cash from operating activities | 404 | 4 254 |
| Net cash from capacity building projects | 2 | 322 |
| Net cash used in investing activities | -585 | -522 |
| Net cash and cash equivalents | -179 | 4 054 |
| Control | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the period | 22 534 | 18 480 |
| Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the period | 22 355 | 22 534 |
| Difference | -179 | 4 054 |
Principal officers
These principal officers were the people navigating ISO towards its strategic goals in 2022. You can also discover the current principle officers by reading their detailed bios.
Sweden
ISO Central Secretariat
Japan
Germany
Switzerland
Singapore
End of term of office is displayed after the role. Past principal officers of ISO is available as a PDF.